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Chapter 14 - Realism and Naturalism

from Part II - Literary Contexts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2019

John Bird
Affiliation:
Winthrop University
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Summary

Mark Twain was a central figure in the prevailing literary movements of the second half of the nineteenth century: realism and naturalism. His friend William Dean Howells was the leading proponent of realism in American literature, and in Mark Twain he early saw a writer who would join him in his efforts to move literature beyond romanticism. Howells, Twain, and Henry James were the three most prominent figures, but other writers were also important. Although Twain did not write literary criticism that outlined his philosophy of realism, his practice was important in establishing realism as the prevailing literary movement of the time.

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Mark Twain in Context , pp. 139 - 148
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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References

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